To think that giving letting agents advance notice of a short rent delay is pointless and that some actually behave worse when you try to communicate properly?

I agree if anyone refuses to communicate through writing on important matters then this is a huge red flag. However, equally insisting that all correspondence, no matter how trivial is done through writing can be onerous and inefficient. I deal with lots of businesses and individuals and almost everyone uses a hybrid of communication that reflects what is actually being communicated.

If not everyone has a large overdraft then why assume that the landlord just have on to cover OP's late payment?

This will get worse with large organisations taking over rental properties in my opinion.
Currently, if you’ve got mum and dad landlords, they probably can just suck it up and won’t report the lateness to anybody.
In years to come with the large corporations owning the properties it will just be factual information that’s impacted on Credit references and rental references.
We won’t know what the criteria will be maybe three days late Will be fine. Maybe it will be enough to stop you being offered a rental property ever again. Who knows? And will they share that criteria with the general public?

The first thing you should do if you cannot pay your mortgage on time is communicate with your lender. Never just leave them in the dark.

There are can't pays and won't pays. There is a lot more help and leeway given to the former if they ask for it.

I'm off to Tesco's going to do a nice big food and alcohol shop and tell them I'll drop in next week and pay.

When communication is in writing there is a record of "he said she said" which helps to prevent misunderstandings. Any one who refuses to communicate in writing has something to hide. This is not being difficult. It is simply being businesslike.

To the posters who upbraided the OP for paying 3 days late. I have been in jobs where there was an admin cock up and I had to lean on payrole pretty hard to get paid. Not everyone has a large overdraft facility with their bank.

Complaining to the landlord about mould isn't necessarily enough to stop a section 21 eviction. If that was the case then everyone facing eviction would do it.

Insisting on certain things being in writing it fair enough. Insisting all communication is in writing could be seen as being difficult. The way OP writes about the late rent makes me think she is quite antagonistic. Maybe just my perception though.

I would make a complaint about the agent's behaviour - especially what he said about you can't tell him what he can and cant do. Actually you can as you have a right to quiet enjoyment of your home under the contract. I would also complain to the regulator as PPs have said and speak to Shelter about what your rights are. But TBH I wpuld also simultaneously look for a new place, if these agents are going to continue managing the place and the guy you dealt with is senior I imagine they will cause you a massive headache you are best off without.

I am a landlord and if you told me in advance once in 2 years there wouldn't be a problem. I had a tenant who was late paying several times and I knew it was because of admin issues and people not paying her on time plus Covid times so I was sympathetic and told her to let me know but she never did and it was so irritating as it put me overdrawn.

I would strongly disagree. The OP seems to feel written communication is needed to protect their position and the agency being weird about it suggests they don’t want things in writing. The OP has reported mould and can therefore ask the council to delay the section 21. The behaviour from the inspecting agent was perceived as outwith the remit of a mould inspection and sounds like it may be considered harassment.

I'm not sure that this is the case regarding retaliatory evictions unless OP has been through a very specific process and got an emergency works or improvement notice against the landlord. I assume they would have mentioned this so assuming that the landlord has issued a valid Section 21 notice then they can indeed be evicted under the current law.

Just to play devil's advocate, OP does come across as quite a difficult tenant. Obviously the late payment of rent isn't great in itself but their attitude towards it is really odd and entitled and their insistence that they can't communicate through phone calls at all and will only deal with specific people makes me think that the landlord may have concluded that they want to evict OP prior to the new laws being implemented which will make eviction much harder. You may think that's harsh but if you were a landlord then you risk someone like OP making your life very hard indeed if late payment of rent becomes more common and they start to make communication even more difficult. From their perspective, OP could become a nightmare tenant that is only just getting started and will enjoy far more protection in the near future.

Take @Friendlygingercat ’s advice OP. Ignore the lunatics here who agree you can be rightly made homeless for a 36 -hour delay.

Of course it would. Do you think the bank can foreclose if you’re slightly late with one mortgage payment?

Yes, tell the council - this is a retaliatory eviction which can be stopped

they’re cunts, so sorry for what’s happened to you

Well i presume you signed a contract at the start of renting so have you read the requirements of what you are legally responsible for

You need to take a very firm line with letting agents. You (trhe tenant) are in business with the landlord and part of your rent pays their fee. Agents are mere employees and providers of services. They are not your manager or your parents. They are there to provide a service to you, their customer. If you find the agent intiidates or harasses you then you can report them to their regulator. The address should be on their website but there are only 3 so its easy to find out which one they belong to.

In cases of real communication problems I would bypass the agent and go straight to the Landlord. You can find their address by looking up the property on the Land Registry website. It costs about £5.

To the poster who mentioned a mould issue I would go straight to the council. Tell them you reported a disrepair and they have threatened you with eviction. The council can issue an improvement notice. This invalidates a section 21 and they have to wait 6 months before taking any further action. By then the new legislation will be in force and saction 21 will no longer be available.

Estate agents are always terrible in my experience. I’ve never met a good, ethical one. YANBU, and I say that as a landlord.

I think there’s an issue with your particular agent. What contract are they expecting you to sign?
My tenant was a few days late. I informed the letting agent and only then did they chase it up. She had just signed a new lease with a rent increase but hadn’t set up a new mandate. Fair enough these things happen. But then she was late again - because she was away and ‘forgot’. So then my agents insisted she set up a direct debit. After all if she doesn’t pay they don’t get paid.
Sounds like they’ve had a few tenants missing rent and are coming down hard on everyone.
Also my tenant being late paying has a knock on effect - my own direct debits will not get paid if I don’t get her rent. I can’t afford to have that happen, not even once.

do you think proper regulation would help with you getting away with paying your rent late ?

I believe there is a law against retaliatory eviction but I'm not a lawyer

Speak to Shelter

When I initially saw your post, I thought that perhaps they were looking to serve section 21 (a lot of landlords are doing this) and they seized upon your information about late payment as some sort of excuse.

But that's weird, because they actually don't need an excuse do they? I don't know what has happened under the renters reform bill or when it becomes enforceable.

But in your follow-up post, you have mentioned that you reported mould. I would hope that they would be obliged to fix that.

And I think something about retaliatory eviction can be linked to them being asked to make improvements. Any element of retaliation would make the section 21 invalid I think.

I would strongly suggest contacting Shelter for up-to-date legal advice. 💐

That should be a police matter.

@NewMauveScroller check with shelter if the new rules are in- I didn’t think they could do that now

And this is why I really think buy to lets are a really bad thing although I accept have been kind of necessary due to shortage of other rental options. It’s brought in all kinds of people mortgaged up to eyeballs often on multiple property’s.We pay huge rent , several thousands a month and have been here for 3 years- I once had to pay 4 days late due to my quarterly bonus not having been signed off before someone went away , I bi passed the agent who is useless anyway and went straight to landlord who loves us as we have always paid on time prior to that one time, have a Gardner, look after property well and he said ‘no issue at all , thanks for letting me know ‘ but this isn’t a buy to let , it’s a beautiful family house owned outright - if you were a persistent late payer then that’s different , as it is they are being twats but I think the new rules may be in, check them out. And some of the responses on here are truly awful - just getting overdrafts at the drop of a hat isn’t that easy these days , even if you could get one by the time it’s in place there probably wouldn’t be an issue -

Now that is harsh. I would have expected late fees as first recourse.

But you do seem to think it's OK to pay late, as long as you tell them. Or you wouldn't be annoyed with their reaction.

I don't understand tbh. I've been short for some bills because clients didn't pay. The rent was first priority.